Calming Anxiety | Guided Meditation, Sleep Hypnosis & Panic Attack Relief

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe — A Classic Gothic Bedtime Story, Narrated Audiobook | Books at Bedtime

 

A classic audiobook narrated aloud as part of Calming Anxiety's Books at Bedtime series. Tonight's bedtime story is The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, the most famous short story ever written by the master of gothic fiction, and a perfect read-aloud as the nights draw in towards Halloween. It was first published in 1843 and is long in the public domain: Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) died more than 175 years ago.

 

For more calming audiobooks and gentler sleep stories whenever you need them, download Anchored, the free companion app to Calming Anxiety, with offline-ready relaxation and Books at Bedtime sessions for any hour of the night.

Get it on the App Store at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 or on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored.

 

"True! Nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?"

 

In this narrated short story, an unnamed narrator insists he is perfectly sane while he tells us, calmly and in careful detail, how he came to fear an old man's pale blue "vulture eye", and what followed on the eighth night. Poe's genius is in the voice: the racing thoughts, the heightened senses and the growing dread of a mind that cannot stop listening. It all builds towards one of the most famous endings in literature.

 

Please note: this is a classic tale of suspense and horror, including a murder, and it is darker than our usual gentle sleep stories. If you're feeling anxious or fragile tonight, you may prefer one of our calmer Books at Bedtime readings instead. But if you love classic literature read aloud and a spine-tingling tale before sleep, settle in.

 

Hosted and narrated by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett, as part of Calming Anxiety's Coffee Break for the Soul and Books at Bedtime story readings.

 

And in everything, my friend, be kind.

 

 

Support the Show:

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

Why Do I Feel Anxious When Nothing Is Wrong? — A 10-Minute Guided Meditation for Anxiety for No Reason | Grounding & Letting Go

 

Why do I feel anxious when nothing is wrong? Everything is fine. Nobody has called with bad news, the house is quiet, and yet there it is: that little knot inside saying something isn't right. This guided meditation is for anxiety for no reason, the frustrating kind where there's nothing you can point to, so your mind goes searching for something to worry about and fills a perfectly ordinary quiet moment with it.

 

For a quiet place to return to whenever this feeling catches you out, download Anchored, Calming Anxiety's free companion app.

 Get it on the App Store at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 or on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored.

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett, this episode doesn't try to find what's wrong. Instead you'll practise what it feels like to stop looking. It starts with simple grounding (one thing you can see, one thing you can hear, one place your body is being held), then moves to noticing your breath without fixing it. Along the way you'll learn why sometimes the feeling comes first and the mind goes looking for an explanation afterwards. Then comes a steadying phrase, "I don't have to know why right now," along with affirmations for unexplained anxiety and three caring tips.

 

Want more support? Download Martin's free Five Things to Try When Anxiety Hits at https://calminganxiety.org/calm. It's five simple things you can reach for when anxiety starts.

 

⏱️ Time Chapters

* 00:00 – Why Do I Feel Anxious When Nothing Is Wrong?

* 01:16 – Welcome & Martin's Free Five Things

* 02:05 – Practising What It Feels Like to Stop Looking

* 02:58 – Grounding: See, Hear, Feel Supported

* 03:34 – Noticing the Breath Without Fixing It

* 04:08 – When the Feeling Comes First

* 05:07 – "I Don't Have to Know Why Right Now"

* 05:53 – Softening the Body

* 06:20 – Sitting Beside Yourself

* 07:04 – Affirmations for Unexplained Anxiety

* 08:10 – Floating in the Moment

* 08:37 – Three Daily Caring Tips

* 09:33 – Coming Back Gently

* 09:55 – A Note From Martin

 

🌿 Today's Gentle Affirmations

Settle in and repeat these gently to yourself:

* I can feel anxious and still be safe.

* I can feel uncertain and still be okay.

* I can have a thought without believing it.

* I can feel something without needing to act on it.

* I do not need to know why.

 

💡 3 Daily Caring Tips

1. Don't go searching: When anxiety appears without any obvious reason, don't immediately start searching for one. Notice the feeling and say, "I don't have to know why right now."

2. Come back to what you know: When you notice yourself asking, "What if something is wrong?", bring yourself back to what you actually know in this moment. Right now, not tomorrow, not next week, but right now.

3. The next five minutes: Ask yourself, "What would help me feel a little safer for the next five minutes?" Then do that one thing. Small is enough. You don't need to earn the right to take care of yourself.

 

📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You Anywhere

Download Anchored on iOS at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 or on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored. Access over 2,500 searchable, offline-ready audio sessions, sleep stories with Books at Bedtime, and built-in nightlight features for the small hours. And grab Martin's free Five Things to Try When Anxiety Hits at https://calminganxiety.org/calm. If this episode helped, please share it and leave a quick rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people find their way here.

 

And in everything, my friend, be kind.

 

 

Support the Show:

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

An Unfinished Story by O. Henry — A Calming Bedtime Story for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime

 

Drift off to sleep with this gentle bedtime story, a classic audiobook narrated aloud for insomnia relief and deep relaxation as part of Calming Anxiety's Books at Bedtime series. Tonight's sleep story is An Unfinished Story by O. Henry, one of his most loved and most quietly moving tales, about a young New York shopgirl living on six dollars a week. It was first published in his 1906 collection The Four Million and is long in the public domain: William Sydney Porter (1862–1910) died more than a century ago.

 

For more calming audiobooks and sleep stories whenever you need them, download Anchored, the free companion app to Calming Anxiety, with offline-ready relaxation and Books at Bedtime sessions for any hour of the night.

Get it on the App Store at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 or on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored.

 

In this soothing narrated short story, Dulcie works in a department store and counts every cent: ten for breakfast, a dime saved, five squandered on liquorice drops. So when the notorious "Piggy" invites her to a grand dinner uptown, she spends her last fifty cents on a lace collar and gets ready for her first evening out. But on her dresser, in a gilt frame, stands the one friend whose stern, sorrowful eyes are always watching.

 

Framed by O. Henry's playful dream of angels, judgement and a very particular crowd of prosperous spirits, this is a tender, wry and beautifully observed story about small pleasures, quiet dignity and doing the right thing when nobody else is looking.

 

If you can't sleep, lie awake at night with a racing mind, or simply love classic literature read aloud, let this calm, unhurried bedtime reading ease anxiety and carry you softly towards rest.

 

Hosted and narrated by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett, as part of Calming Anxiety's Coffee Break for the Soul and Books at Bedtime story readings.

 

And in everything, my friend, be kind.

 

 

Support the Show:

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

Why Does My Voice Shake When I'm Anxious? — A 10-Minute Guided Meditation for a Shaky Voice & Anxiety Relief | 6-3-9 Breathing

 

Why does my voice shake when I'm anxious? If your voice trembles or wobbles when you talk, whether in a meeting, on the phone or just saying something that matters, this guided meditation is for that kind of anxiety other people can actually hear. Most of us assume the problem is the throat. But anxiety affects the whole system you speak with: your breathing, the muscle tension around your jaw and shoulders, and the way you control your voice.

 

For a quiet place to return to whenever this feeling catches you out, download Anchored, Calming Anxiety's free companion app.

Get it on the App Store at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 or on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored.

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett, this episode explains why anxious breathing turns short and high in the chest. You try to stand an eleven-word sentence on a breath built for four, and somewhere around word seven the floor runs out. Rather than practising speaking, you'll practise the floor underneath it with 6-3-9 descending breathing: six in, rest for three, and nine slowly out. It's a long, unhurried out-breath your voice can rest on. Then come affirmations for a shaky voice, a calming aura of confidence for the throat and chest, and three caring tips for speaking anxiety.

 

Want more support? Download Martin's free Five Things to Try When Anxiety Hits at https://calminganxiety.org/calm. It's five simple things, so you know what to reach for.

 

⏱️ Time Chapters

* 00:00 – Welcome & Martin's Free Five Tips

* 00:44 – Finding Your Quiet Place

* 01:00 – Why Your Voice Shakes When You're Anxious

* 02:12 – The Grip That Makes It Worse

* 02:37 – 6-3-9 Descending Breathing

* 04:35 – Letting the Out-Breath Carry a Soft Sigh

* 05:28 – The Breath Your Voice Can Rest On

* 06:07 – Affirmations for a Shaky Voice

* 07:38 – An Aura of Calm Confidence

* 08:44 – Three Daily Caring Tips

* 09:49 – Coming Back Gently

* 10:26 – A Note From Martin: Five Things to Try

 

🌿 Today's Gentle Affirmations

Settle in and repeat these gently to yourself:

* When my voice shakes, it does not define me.

* It may simply be my body responding to anxiety.

* I do not have to hold my voice still.

* My shaky voice is not a character flaw.

* It is my body responding to a moment.

* I am allowed to finish my sentence early.

* I am allowed to say these things slowly.

 

💡 3 Daily Caring Tips

1. Notice the throat clear: Just notice it, the little cough before and the little cough after. You do not have to stop it. It has just been invisible for a long time, and today it is not.

2. One breath out, then speak: Before you say something today, let out one comfortable breath. Not a huge breath in, just one breath out, and then speak.

3. Let the sentence be short: If your voice goes today, let the sentence be short and let that be completely fine. You are allowed to finish early. Nobody is marking it.

 

📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You Anywhere

Download Anchored on iOS at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 or on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored. Access over 2,500 searchable, offline-ready audio sessions, sleep stories with Books at Bedtime, and built-in nightlight features for the small hours. And grab Martin's free Five Things to Try When Anxiety Hits at https://calminganxiety.org/calm. If this episode helped, please share it and leave a quick rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people find their way here.

 

And in everything, my friend, be kind.

 

 

Support the Show:

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

Between Rounds by O. Henry — A Calming Bedtime Story for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime

 

Drift off to sleep with this gentle bedtime story, a classic audiobook narrated aloud for insomnia relief and deep relaxation as part of Calming Anxiety's Books at Bedtime series. Tonight's sleep story is Between Rounds by O. Henry, a warm, funny tale of one May evening at a New York boarding house. It was first published in his 1906 collection The Four Million and is long in the public domain: William Sydney Porter (1862–1910) died more than a century ago.

 

For more calming audiobooks and sleep stories whenever you need them, download Anchored, the free companion app to Calming Anxiety, with offline-ready relaxation and Books at Bedtime sessions for any hour of the night.

Get it on the App Store at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 or on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored.

 

In this soothing narrated short story, the May moon shines on Mrs. Murphy's boarding house. Upstairs, Mr. and Mrs. McCaskey are having one of their famously noisy disagreements over supper, and the kitchenware is flying. Then a cry goes up from below: Mrs. Murphy's little boy, Mike, is lost.

 

As the boarders rally in their own comic ways, the McCaskeys pause at the window, and in that quiet moment between rounds they find an unexpected tenderness for each other. What happens next is pure O. Henry: wry, affectionate and with a knowing twist at the end.

 

If you can't sleep, lie awake at night with a racing mind, or simply love classic literature read aloud, let this calm, unhurried bedtime reading ease anxiety and carry you softly towards rest.

 

Hosted and narrated by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett, as part of Calming Anxiety's Coffee Break for the Soul and Books at Bedtime story readings.

 

And in everything, my friend, be kind.

 

 

Support the Show:

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.